• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
Commentarybusiness advice

GM CEO Mary Barra’s best advice: Do what you love

By
LinkedIn
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
LinkedIn
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 4, 2015, 12:00 PM ET
Mary Barra
General Motors CEO Mary Barra addresses the Global Business Conference for investors in Milford, Mich., Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. Barra says the company has enough parts available to fix all the faulty ignition switches that are blamed for at least 23 deaths nationwide. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)Photograph by Carlos Osorio — AP

LinkedIn influence Mary Barra published this post originally on LinkedIn.

In this series, professionals share their words of wisdom that made all the difference in their lives.

The best advice I ever received came from my parents, who encouraged me to work hard and pursue my early love of math. This was great advice for two reasons.

Watch more about Mary Barra from Fortune’s video team:

First, it led me to do something I really loved. In my experience, in work and in life, there are lots of smart, talented people out there. But talent alone is never enough. One of the things that distinguishes those who truly make a difference is passion and hard work. There is truth in the expression that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. And the passion that drives hard work comes from doing something you really love.

The second reason this was great advice is that it steered me toward a career in engineering at a time when few women were pursuing work in science, technology, engineering or math – fields that, collectively, we now call STEM.

Read the entire article on LinkedIn here.

About the Author
By LinkedIn
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Commentary

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Future of Work
Malcolm Gladwell tells young people if they want a STEM degree, 'don’t go to Harvard.' You may end up at the bottom of your class and drop out
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 27, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
MacKenzie Scott's close relationship with Toni Morrison long before Amazon put her on the path give more than $1 billion to HBCUs
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 28, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Arts & Entertainment
Gen Zers and millennials flock to so-called analog islands 'because so little of their life feels tangible'
By Michael Liedtke and The Associated PressDecember 28, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Banking
Russian official warns a banking crisis is possible amid nonpayments. 'I don’t want to think about a continuation of the war or an escalation'
By Jason MaDecember 27, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Billionaire philanthropy's growing divide: Mark Zuckerberg stops funding immigration reform as MacKenzie Scott doubles down on DEI
By Ashley LutzDecember 22, 2025
7 days ago
placeholder alt text
AI
'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton predicts 2026 will see the technology get even better and gain the ability to 'replace many other jobs'
By Jason MaDecember 28, 2025
1 day ago

Latest in Commentary

Sridhar Ramaswamy is CEO of Snowflake, the AI Data Cloud company.
CommentarySoftware
Snowflake CEO: Big Tech’s grip on AI will loosen in 2026 — plus 6 more predictions that will define the year
By Sridhar RamaswamyDecember 28, 2025
1 day ago
Federal Reserve Gov. Chris Waller engages 200 top CEOs at the Yale CEO Summit in December, 2025. (Photo courtesy of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute/Photographer Donovan Marks)
CommentaryFederal Reserve
Why over 80% of America’s top CEOs think Trump would be wrong not to pick Chris Waller for Fed chair
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven TianDecember 27, 2025
2 days ago
Kence Anderson is the founder and CEO of AMESA 
CommentarySoftware
I pioneered machine teaching at Microsoft. Building AI agents is like building a basketball team, not drafting a player 
By Kence AndersonDecember 27, 2025
2 days ago
Butch Meily
Commentaryempathy
The global empathy crisis that confronts us this Christmas
By Butch MeilyDecember 25, 2025
4 days ago
economy
CommentaryGDP
Why 4.3% GDP growth proves the ‘vibecession’ theory is historically wrong
By Brian HamiltonDecember 24, 2025
5 days ago
students
CommentaryEducation
Why restricting graduate loans will bankrupt America’s talent supply chain
By Katica RoyDecember 23, 2025
6 days ago